


Ambush

by Hinn_Raven



Series: Marsha Tabris [4]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Dragon Age: Origins Quest - The Landsmeet, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2020-02-26 16:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18720763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hinn_Raven/pseuds/Hinn_Raven
Summary: The encounter with Taliesen leaves Zevran with some strange thoughts.





	Ambush

The battle is tough. Crows do not go down easily, and there are many of them.

Marsha is a blur of motion, her face stone as she slaughters her way through their enemies.

It had just been him and the five Wardens. Marsha had wanted to show him the sights, and the other Wardens were also curious about the capital of this city.

Taliesen appeared in front of Zevran, and Zevran had a moment, where he thought that he was dead. He saw the angles his old friend’s blades were making, and he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough to evade.

And then Marsha appeared, her eyes blazing with fury. Her sword slashed out, blocking the blow.

“Don’t you  _dare_ ,” she hissed.

Taliesen’s eyes narrowed, and then he refocused on her.

The two of them circled each other, lunging and slashing, faster and faster. Zevran kept fighting, keeping the Crows off her back, but he couldn’t help but watch.

Marsha drove Taliesen up the stairs, steadily gaining speed.

She was better than him, Zevran knew this. And he knew what was going to happen a moment before it did.

It gave him enough time to look away.

He still heard Taliesen’s scream.

He looked back slowly.

The fighting was over; Taliesen had been the last to go down.

Marsha stood on the staircase, breathing heavily. She turned her back on the corpse of Zevran’s old friend, and he couldn’t help but stare at her.

Her braids were wild, falling out of their normal positions. She was splattered with blood and covered in sweat. She should not have seemed beautiful, but in that moment, he couldn’t think of another word for her.

She had just killed the person who Zevran would have once called his only friend, but, looking at her, Zevran had a strange feeling in his stomach, one he couldn’t place.

She glanced at him, and her eyes lit up.

“And there it is,” he said quietly. “Taliesen is dead, and I am free of the Crows. They will assume I am dead, along with Taliesen. So long as I do not make my presence known to them, they will not seek me out.”

Marsha pushed one of her stray side braids out of her face, and grinned at him. “Thanks for not killing me,” she said, laughing.

_That was never even an option_ , Zevran doesn’t say. Instead, he talked about leaving, musing about the fact that he is, for the first time in his life,  _free_.

“I want you to do what’s best for you,” she told him, but he saw her face, and his heart froze. She  _wanted_ him to stay.

“Err… then I suppose I shall… stay? Is that… good?”

She kissed him instead of answering, grinning as she pulled away. “That’s  _very_ good,” she said.

“Maker, get a room you two!” Krim called, but all of them seemed amused. Marsha laughed and went to join her fellow Wardens.

Zevran fingered the earring he’d always carried in the pouch on his belt, suddenly wondering what the pretty token would look like hanging from Marsha’s ear.

Lira tapped him on the arm, smirking at him. “ _You’ve got it bad_.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, my dear Lira.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but let it drop.

Zevran felt worry gather in his stomach, and tried to think, instead, of how he would offer Marsha the earring. An appropriate thanks for killing Taliesen, surely.


End file.
